Though “not the lowest” moment of his career, Lewis Hamilton admits Imola was a “weekend to forget”.
The seven-time world champion only qualified 13th on Friday and finished 13th on race day after also losing a position in the Sprint on Saturday.
Hamilton’s main problem was getting stuck in DRS trains after following Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly for much of the Grand Prix.
And to make matters worse, the Briton would be lapped by 2021 rival Max Verstappen, the first time Hamilton has finished more than a lap behind the winner since 2017.
First Q1 exit since 2017 in Jeddah ✅
First +1 Lap race finish since 2017 at Imola ✅#LewisHamilton ending some very unwanted streaks this season…#F1 #Formula1 pic.twitter.com/E33KaCxKkr— InsideRacing.com (@INSIDERACINGcom) April 25, 2022
“A weekend to forget, that’s for sure,” he told Sky Sports F1 post-race.
“I’m out of the championship for sure, there’s no question about that. But I’ll still keep working as hard as I can and try to pull it back together somehow.”
After so many years of dominance and success, 2022 is definitely a harsh bump for Hamilton, but…
“I’ve definitely had lower moments, so it’s not the lowest,” he insisted.
“It’s been difficult and it’s definitely not easy, but we all feel it as a team, but there’s no one that’s giving up and everyone is just trying to move forward as fast as they can.
“At least George [Russell] got some points today for the team (in P4). So apologies to everyone that I wasn’t able to do so.”
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After the race, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff apologised to Hamilton over the radio for giving him an “undrivable” car, adding P13 was “not what we deserved to score as a result”.
Later, reflecting on Lewis’ race with Sky Sports, he added: “Really bad.
“We saw with George where the car can drive if you’re in free air, but we are not good enough for a World Champion, not worthy for a World Champion. We just need to fix the car.”